Viewing rack

ABSTRACT

A rack constructed from a single blank is folded or bent into a shape to accommodate a plurality of test tubes. The rack may include an elongated light source to backlight a series of test tubes.

United States Patent 1 Seitz et a1.

1 1 VIEWING'RACK [75] Inventors: Lamont J. Seitz; Eduardo V.

Miranda, both of Huntington Beach,

Calif.

[73] Assignee: Baxter Laboratories, 1nc., Morton Grove, Ill.

[22] Filed: Mar. 24, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 237,824

[52] US. Cl. 356/244, 211/73 [51] Int. Cl. G01n 21/16 [58] Field of Search 356/244, 246;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATESPATENTS Pickett 211/73 1 Aug. 7, 1973 1,896,677 2/1933 Myers 211/73 2,206,728 7/1940 Nevins, .lr 211/73 3,062,380 11/1962 (irela et a1. 211/73 Primary Examiner-William L. Sikes Att0rneyScott J. Meyer ct a1.

[57] ABSTRACT A rack constructed from a single blank is folded or bent into a shape to accommodate a plurality of test tubes. The rack may include an elongated light source to backlight a series of test tubes.

3 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures VIEWING RACK BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The concept of test tube racks or holders is extremely old. The very nature of the structure of the round bottomed test tube prevents its being able to rest vertically as no base is provided. The round bottom of the test tube is a necessary feature; to accomplish ease of man ufacture and to simplify cleaning. Test tube-racks are usually constructed in a manner to provide a single row and to I eliminate as much as possible obstructions which might obscure view of the test tube from its bottom to near the top portion. In this'manner atransparent glass or plastic test tube may be easily viewed without removal from the rack.

More recently, it has been found desirable to include a source of electric. light behind the test tubes to'provide proper illumination of the contents of the test tube. In this'way the test tubes may be adequately backlighted to provide comparison betweenthe contents of one or more test tubes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is to a rack for holding test tubes and, further, a rack for test tubes having illumination means associated therewith to provide :backlighting of such retained test tubes. The-rack isconstructed from asingle blank of metal or thermoplastic sheet material. By folding or bending the blank it is possible to provide a test tube holding portion, a base portion and a portion designed to provide support to a light I source.

THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the rack of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of thedevice.

FIG. 3 is a partial front elevation of thedevice.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the device:taken.:

along line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

DETAILED'DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION blank 12 may be of sheet metal or thermoplasticmatu rial. The material of the blank in any event mustbe of a material capable of bending to form the final shape. It must also be of sufficient strengthand present sufficient rigidity in that it will be self-sustaining whilecarrying not only a plurality of filled test tubes butalsoa housing having anelectric light source. As the light'will preferably constitute a fluorescent type, a conventional ballast will also have to be supported by the rack.

It will be seen that blank 12 receives seven folds,-all of which are parallel. The perspective shown by FIG. 1 and the cross-section of FIG. 4 are deemed to present excellent elucidation as to the manner of the bends achieved by the folds. A major portion 'of the rack 11 is to an inverted V-shaped arrangement, accomplished by a bend 13, thereby producing rearwardly extending leg 14 and a forwardly extending legl5. The'rear- 2 formed by folding a small portion of leg 14 along bend 17. The base may be folded in either direction.

The forwardly extending leg 15 has a bend 18 to produce another base 19. From FIG. 4 it will be seen that base 16 and base 19 are in the same plane and resulting legs 14 and 15 are approximately the same, length. The blank 12 is also bent along line 20 to form an upwardly extending wall 21. It will be appreciated that wall 21 as seen from the embodiment of FIG. 4 presents an angle of slightly greater than 90 with respect to the base. Of course, it is within the purview of the inventive concept to include a 90 angle with respect to the base or even somewhat less.

The upwardly extending wall 21 terminates in a bend 22 to form a small first shelf 23 which extends substantially horizontally. In the embodiment shown by FIG. 4, it will be seen that the first shelf 23 is at a slightdownward incline from the bend 22. The shelf 23 terminates in still another bend 24 so that there is another upwardly extending wall 25, approximately parallel with respect to wall 21, that is, may be at a small angle with respect to the vertical. This upwardly extending wall 25 has a plurality of slots 30, as can be readily seen from FIGS. 1 and 3.

The upwardly extending wall 25 terminates in a bend 26.'The bend 26 is between a second substantially horizontally disposed shelf 27 which as can beseen from FIG. 4 is slightly downwardly depending. The first shelf 23 and the second shelf 27 are parallel in the present embodiment. Shelf 27 has-a series of apertures 28.

Each aperture 28 is aligned with respect to a slot located below in the upwardly extending wall25. As wall 25 is slightly inclined as are the shelves 27 and 23, a test tube 29'may be positioned, or shown in the Figures, through aperture 28 and slot 30 to a position whereit is permitted to rest on shelf 23.

.In the foregoing, the essence ofthe rack has been disclosed. Toprovidea light to illuminatethe lower por- .tion of the test tubes 29 a housing31 containing a fluorescent light is positioned on leg 15 and in the space defined between the leg andthat portion of=the blank 12 beginningat the bend 18 of the baseand that portion then extending upwardly as previously: described.

The housing 31 also rests in part onthewall 21. lthas ;a translucent plastic window 32 positioned to provide excellent backlighting for the test tubes. Therhousing 31 may have the usual switch means 33-for turning the light on and off. Being a fluorescent lamp conventional ballastmay'be incorporated in the housing. Of course, unless battery operated, the housing'3l willhavea conventional electric power cord 34 terminating inamale 'electric'plug 35.

From the foregoing, only one sideoftheinverted V- shaped sectionhas the test tube containing portion. It will be appreciated that it is within the framework of the present invention to provide a similar-arrangement on the other leg 14 side in place of base l6.The other wardly extending leg 14 has a relatively small base 16 prior to undertaking the bending steps.

'Weclaim:

l. A rack comprising a blank having a plurality of parallel elongated bends, a portion having an inverted V-shaped configuration, said portion including downwardly diverging legs, a horizontally extending base integral by a first of said bends with the end of the forwardly extending one of said legs, a first upwardly extending portion integral by a second of said bends with the opposite end of said base, a first shelf integral by a third of said bends with the top of said first upwardly extending portion extending towards said forwardly extending leg and spaced therefrom, a second upwardly extending portion integral by a fourth of said bends with the other end of said shelf, a second shelf integral by a fifth of said bends with the top of said second upwardly extending portion extending towards the same said leg, said second shelf having an elongated edge portion spaced from said leg, said second shelf having a plurality of openings, said second upwardly extending portion having a plurality of openings corresponding to the openings in said second shelf, each corresponding pair of said openings of said second shelf and said second upwardly extending portion being in substantially .of the openings in said vertical alignment adapted to accommodate a test tube, and said first shelf and second shelf being parallel and displaced horizontally whereby when a test tube is positioned in a corresponding pair of said openings in said rack its top is inclined rearwardly from the vertical.

2. The rack of claim 1 wherein the forwardly extending leg, the horizontally extending base, the first and second upwardly extending portion and the first and second shelf define a rectangular elongated space in which said fourth bend and said edge portion of said second shelf are equidistant from said forwardly extending leg.

3. The rack of claim 2 wherein an elongated housing is positioned in said space, the housing having a back, a bottom, a front and a top, the housing is supported at its back by said leg and by the first upwardly extending portion at the corner defined by the first and bottom of the housing, the housing having elongated light means, means in the housing to direct the light in the direction upwardly extending portion. l It: l i 

1. A rack comprising a blank having a plurality of parallel elongated bends, a portion having an inverted V-shaped configuration, said portion including downwardly diverging legs, a horizontally extending base integral by a first of said bends with the end of the forwardly extending one of said legs, a first upwardly extending portion integral by a second of said bends with the opposite end of said base, a first shelf integral by a third of said bends with the top of said first upwardly extending portion extending towards said forwardly extending leg and spaced therefrom, a second upwardly extending portion integral by a fourth of said bends with the other end of said shelf, a second shelf integral by a fifth of said bends with the top of said second upwardly extending portion extending towards the same said leg, said second shelf having an elongated edge portion spaced from said leg, said second shelf having a plurality of openings, said second upwardly extending portion having a plurality of openings corresponding to the openings in said second shelf, each corresponding pair of said openings of said second shelf and said second upwardly extending portion being in substantially vertical alignment adapted to accommodate a test tube, and said first shelf and second shelf being parallel and displaced horizontally whereby when a test tube is positioned in a corresponding pair of said openings in said rack its top is inclined rearwardly from the vertical.
 2. The rack of claim 1 wherein the forwardly extending leg, the horizontally extending base, the first and second upwardly extending portion and the first and second shelf define a rectangular elongated space in which said fourth bend and said edge portion of said second shelf are equidistant from said forwardly extending leg.
 3. The rack of claim 2 wherein an elongated housing is positioned in said space, the housing having a back, a bottom, a front and a top, the housing is supported at its back by said leg and by the first upwardly extending portion at the corner defined by the first and bottom of the housing, the housing having elongated light means, means in the housing to direct the light in the direction of the openings in said upwardly extending portion. 